Sheila Solomon Klass

Historical fiction which takes place in 1843. Mid-elementary age and up.
A ten-year-old girl, Susan, on a farm in Massachusetts is happily surprised by the new neighbors, and gets to be friends with them all, especially ten-year-old Louey (Louisa May Alcott), who've started a commune called Fruitlands there.
I really really enjoyed this book! Told in a stream-of-consciousness style, in first-person. Susan lives with her father and aunt. Her mother had died giving birth to her. Her father is distant and difficult to talk to. Her aunt is a good, generous person. Susan has a stammer, and is reluctant to meet people. All the characters and major events at Fruitlands are real. Susan and her family are the creation of the author.
Farming, friendship, Emerson, Shakers, Utopia, Fruitlands, 19th Century, Schooling, Chess, Talking, Thinking, Playing, Massachusetts, the Alcott family. Transcendentalism, Philosophy, Veganism, Consociates, Charles Lane, Bronson Alcott… (més)